I Was Scared of Stress, Now I Work in the Event Industry

When you’re a teenager, there’s often a specific but typical pressure to know exactly what you want to do in life after high school. The oh-so common bombardment at dinner tables and holiday visits including but not limited to:

“What do you want to do with your life? What career do you want? What Universities are you applying to? Are you moving out with friends? What’s the plan?”

For many, the answer “I don’t know” stirs up feelings of anxiety and a fear of the unknown. What do I want to do? What am I good at? What makes the most money? I don’t feel ready… Also, what’s a T4?

I had put heaps of pressure on myself to get it right, to do what an adult would do. I would buy a house at 18, get a job, go to college, get a degree, and live out my days with a high paying job and lots of free time to travel and it would all work out in the end, right?

Wrong. Oh my God I was so wrong

I did buy a house at 18 thanks to an injury settlement that I knew I would make quick work of if I didn’t invest in something. I did get a job, two of them, and I did go to college with a schedule of 6 courses per semester.

I was promptly introduced to a phenomenon I had never truly felt in its entirety until that moment:

Burnout.

In fact, I think the only accomplishment I had achieved post high school was ‘adulting’ way too close to the sun. I paid for it by quitting my job, dropping out of college, then quitting my other job because I had to be a student to keep it. To say I was afraid was just the tip of the iceberg of what I was feeling at that moment. 

I felt continuous waves of failure, panic, helplessness, and most of all, stress. Out of all things that high school fails to prepare a teenager for, I was most resentful about the lack of warning for how STRESSFUL life is. 

I thought to myself, “Is this it? Is this the adulthood I was counting down the days for? There’s no way everyone feels like this.” Yes, actually. We do all feel like this, some more than others but we’ve all felt tired, overworked, underpaid, homesick, anxious, and stressed. 

Of course it wasn’t all bad all of the time. I’m fortunate enough to have help from family, I made new friends with coworkers and former classmates, I was out partying like any other young adult was. Enjoying life in between bouts of freaking out and compulsively asking myself the same question I was constantly asked at 17, “What do you want to do with your life?”

Fast forward to spring 2022. I’d survived the brunt of the COVID pandemic, having worked harder than ever in the form of mixing and hauling paint for other tense adults who were cooped up in their homes. Times were uncertain and a myriad of other things that I need not explain in detail as whoever reads this remembers it all too well. 

I was feeling it again. Burnout. Physically, mentally and emotionally. Although I’d felt it before, this time there was no balance found in seeing family, dancing or socializing. There was no respite in sight. For the first time, I physically couldn’t work anymore. I’d met my breaking point, I went on a medical leave and was unable to return.

I developed a fear of stress. The slightest change in life would break me down and I could not get back up. I wanted a life absolutely free of tension. I would tell my family and friends, “I just want the most boring, mundane job possible.” 

Just a few months later, I was offered a position as an event coordinator for Creative Twist by Kimberly. I’d originally applied to manage a civic project she was contracted by the city to operate, but the position had been filled. I said, “Sure! I’ll take whatever you’ve got!” 

A career in events had never been on my radar, I didn’t have the slightest idea of what an event coordinator even did. I was excited that I would be given the opportunity to be creative, and I enjoy being organized. So I Googled it to get a better idea of what my new role would entail.

“Most Stressful Jobs in 2022”

“⅓ Of Planners Say They’re Burnt Out”

“Stress Tolerance Requirement Levels For Planners: 95 out of 100”

“High Stress Scores: Pilots 61.07, Police 51.97, Event Coordinators 51.15.”

Oh. Oh no…

At this point, I could only laugh. I had just recovered from a stress leave from retail, aspired to have a boring work life without pressure, and I’d just signed an offer of employment for one of the most stressful, nerve-racking jobs possible. I might as well have signed a form titled “Hi, Please Kill Me!” 

Thankfully, my half-baked Psychology degree I’d abandoned taught me that I would make a lousy therapist, but a perfect client. With time (and a good chunk of money), I was able to identify through therapy that I didn’t have a fear of stress, I had a disproportionate reaction to it. Dissatisfaction with previous careers fed my inability to feel happy with my life. But I was still haunted by the same question: “What do you want to do with your life?”

Fast forward one more time to right now, 3PM on a Tuesday in January of 2024. As of this coming summer, I’ll have been working in events for two years.

Am I okay?

I have never been better. 

My nerves were quickly replaced by ruthless preparation and some newfound strain of delusional confidence I’d never experienced. I gained the drive and ambition that retail could never have given me, and the satisfaction of being creative in an ever-changing climate with clients from all walks of life. Being able to work under pressure and liking it, preferring it. I am very lucky to have been given amazing opportunities to grow in such a short amount of time. Conferences, hands-on experience, schooling and most notably the trust my boss extends to me to get things done. 

Some of my favorite shifts consisted of 15 hour workdays and over 20,000 steps. The most daunting elements of this industry that seasoned planners warn fresh-faced newbies about happen to be the things I enjoy. Unpredictable hours, managing client expectations, tight deadlines, problem solving; no, crisis solving. I’ve gained trust within myself to make competent decisions, I challenge my negative thoughts and trepidations daily. Am I actually scared? Or have I just never done this before? 

Prior to pursuing this career I was a passenger in my own life, letting fear take the wheel and drive me wherever stress couldn’t be found. As it turns out, there is no destination that will accommodate that fear.

I was either going to take the wheel and drive myself to succeed, or drive myself crazy.

I’ve done enough work on the latter, it is now my time to tackle the former and finally have an answer to the burning question,

 “What do I want to do with my life?”

-Karley Bodnarchuk

Following the Thread

An event usually starts with an idea, one tiny thread that starts the ball rolling and then magically starts to collect other bits and pieces as the event begins to take shape.  Sometimes the ball is rolling so fast that you loose handle on that first, all important thread.  It gets jumbled up, tied in knots and buried in the snow ball.  The problem is that the thread is usually deeply connected to the reason the event is happening in the first place, be it branding or a message or simply a core purpose. That reason can easily get lost in the jumble if you don't carefully FOLLOW THE THREAD.  The event might be fabulous and successful in many ways, but if the thread is lost it likely didn't live up to it's full potential.

When planning an event; identify the thread...the purpose or message...then write it down, build your elements around it and regularly refer back. Is the thread still clear?  Can you follow it through all the layers and details?  It doesn't have to be a neon light woven through your event design but ask yourself if what you are building is going to allow your attendees to be aware of the thread?  (However subtle and seamless you want it to be.)  

If the answers are no, then it's time to take stock, clear away some of the elements and get a firmer grasp.  The thread should inform all the choices you make and in the end your event will be more cohesive, your messaging will be clearer and your guest's experience will be richer.